Those were the good old days. Then Prime Minister Malcolm “Menachem” Turnbull hosted the first ever prime ministerial visit of Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu. ‘Menachem’ & Bibi. Turnbull hosted a memorable state lunch for the visiting Israeli at the Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. ‘Menachem’ & Bibi. Parliament was not sitting, and conveniently parliamentary critics of Israel did not have to be invited. Only a couple of isolated demos….writes Michael Danby. Read more

You wouldn’t hardly know it in Australia, but for the last month Britain has been transfixed by the renewed row over Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to address rampant anti-Jewish bigotry in UK Labour…writes Michael Danby. Read more

Australia should remain in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), but in America’s absence we will have to fight even harder for the organisation based at the old League of Nations headquarters in Geneva, to rebalance its focus on international human rights…writes Michael Danby. Read more

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters attacked major stars at the Australia Palestine Advocate Network (APAN). The APAN forum in Melbourne was hosted by the obsessive Sydney-based Israel hating Anthony Lowenstein. The comments were revealed by music site Noise11 in Glasgow…writes Michael Danby. Read more

It is old fashioned bigotry to assert that Australia’s six Jewish MP’s are disloyal to Australia. This is what the anti-Israel online publication Crikey alleged in an article by its veteran writer Guy Rundle a couple of weeks ago…writes Michael Danby. Read more

ABC correspondent Sophie McNeill has suggested that the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) conducted an internal review that found no evidence that Australian aid funds given to World Vision were diverted to Hamas. Read more

Bob Hawke is a respected former Labor PM (AFR 13.2.2017) but he has incorrectly elevated Israeli settlements in the West Bank as the major barrier to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Read more

As any of us that travel to Israel know, it is almost impossible to reconcile the vital, passionate, funny, modern and indeed happy Jewish state with the grotesque caricature presented by Australia’s two (Jerusalem-based) advocacy journalists. Read more

Russian Deputy Chief of Staff General Nikolay Bogdanovsky was in Israel last week pursuing Israeli/Russian plans to avoid military confrontation particularly in the air over Syria…writes Michael Danby Read more

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve found myself in the unusual position of pointing out the main source of human misery, civilian deaths, and refugee outflow in Syria, is the result of the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Read more

Forty million Americans now have healthcare. If I was an American, the President’s domestic policy, in this area alone, would impress me. Further, if I was to put myself into the shoes of the average American taxpayer, after contributing so much blood and treasure to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, I would be naturally reluctant to support action that might lead to further military involvement in the Middle East. Read more

Recently I returned from a trip to Israel in the midst of its latest conflict with Hamas and, as I recently told the Sydney Institute, had seen first-hand the effects that living under a constant barrage of 35,000+ rockets can have on the lives of 5 million Israelis. Read more